NandA viLakku perumAL - tirumaNimADakkOvil

 

emakkE aruLAi ena ninRu imaiyOr paravum iDam –

addressing You thus, heavenly inhabitants come and pray for Your blessings in this divya dESam.

prathama jitante stotram 2 states:

devAnAM dAnavAnAM ca sAmAnyam adhidaivatam |
sarvadA caraNa dvandvaM vrajAmi SaraNaM tava ||

(Oh lord, who is common to both deva-s and asura-s, I take Your tiruvaDi to be my salvation always!)

Even though perumAL is meant to be for all, deva-s, who are helpless, come and pray to Him here to bless only them and not the asura-s.

ettisaikkum gandAram antEn isai pADa maDE, kaLivaNDu mizhaRRanizhal tudaindu mandAram ninRu maNam malgum –

beautiful bees drink the nectar in the flowers and buzz and sing the tune 'devagandAram' and the other bees are jubilant because of the company; mandAra trees give shade to these bees with their fully blossomed, fragrant flowers; this looks as if they are providing a shaded platform for the singers. mandAra trees are heavenly trees also called kalpakavRksham. The term 'maNam malgum' denotes the presenting of gifts to singers – here, the fragrant blossoms.

nAngUr maNimADak kOyil vaNangu en mananE! –

that place is tirunAngUr divya dESam – tirumaNimADakkOvil. Oh my mind! Go and worship this emperumAn.

 

C.SrI UV:

Just as kUrattAzhvAn took the phrase 'nandAviLakkE aLattarkariyAi' to denote 'satyaM j~nAnam anantaM brahmA', SrImadrahasyatryasAram also follows the same thought.

'nanda' points to bhagavAn's special attribute, not the brilliance of the lamp, namely j~nAnam. 'viLakku' points to j~nAnam or knowledge.

SrIbhAshyam explains j~nAnam to be 'nityAsankucita j~nAnam' (eternally non-shrinking wisdom); by the term 'nandA', bhagavAn's immeasurability due to time is shown. 'viLakku' shows His immeasurability due to dESam. 'satyaM nirvikArasat' (unchanged Truth/unalloyed, blemishless truth-satyam) – 'nandA' denotes He has no 'end' or vikAram; He is nirvikAran. 'anantam' shows that He does not have the three kinds (kAlam, dESam, vastu) of paricchedam-s. If He is in one object and not in the other, He can be measured; but He exists in everything. Thus, in general, He is immeasurable. That is why emperumAn is also called 'anantan'. SrIrAmAnujar quotes Anandavalli 'nIlatoyatamat' while explaining these phrases.

mandAram ninRu maNam malgum –

Just as the trees provide shade and compliment the singers with 'fragrance', the elders in this divyadESam also do the same. So, my mind, go and sing like the bees in this place.

 

D.SrI PBA:

brahmA and other deva-s worship emperumAn – nara nArAyaNan, saying all these phrases together; but, each deva prays to Him saying 'bless me alone', 'bless me alone'.

nandA viLakku –

here are several pAsurams that talk about emperumAn as 'viLakku' - “vEdAnta vizhupporuLin mElirunda viLakku” (periyAzhvAr 4.3.11), “mikka j~nAna mUrtiyAya vEda viLakku” (tiruvAimozhi 4.7.10) etc.

There is a difference between the ordinary lamp and this nandA viLakku emperumAn. The worldly lamp does not need the help of another lamp to reveal itself. It can be discerned by its own light and brilliance. But, to find this nandA viLakku, nara nArAyaNa emperumAn, guidance is needed in the form of another lamp. He can be found only by the light of wisdom. “j~nAnac cuDar viLakku ERRinEn” (iraNDAm tiruvantAdi 1); “uNarvennum oLi koL viLakku ERRi” (mUnRAm tiruvantAdi) talks about this light of knowledge. “hartum tamas sadasatI ca vivektumISo mAnaM pradIpamiva kAruNiko dadAti” (SrIrangarAjasthavam uttara Satakam-1 – emperumAn provides us with SAstram as a lamp to remove the darkness inside and to provide us the ability to differentiate between what is good and what is bad) - SAstram is supposed to be a big lamp that must be used to find emperumAn.

aLattarkkariyAi –

[Sri PBA also talks at length about SrIbhAshyam expounding this phrase] If emperumAn is in one place and does not exist in another, one can measure Him with deSakAla paricchedam. But, He is sarvavyApi - “paranda taN paravaiyuL nIr torum paranduLan” (tiruvAimozhi 1.1.10).

 

 

gajendra moksham

 

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